In <[log in to unmask]> [log in to unmask] writes:

> Chris Bartram writes:
>
> >It may depend on the type of tape drive.. the old hpib dds drive in our 922lx
> >test system gets stuck regularly... we have to open the cabinet, open the top
> >of the tape drive, and manually wind the gears til the tape pops out. Needles
> >to say, we avoid using that tape drive whenever possible.
> >(it's an old HPC1501A. Avoid them if you can!)
>
> Bingo!  That's my baby!  We have a series 948 with the C1501A drive.
> But this is the only the second time in three years that we've had
> a tape stuck in it; although this will be the third time that the
> drive has been completely replaced.

I went through several of them at my last job before we upgraded to SCSI
DDS drives. It was an HP CE that showed me how to open them up and spin the
gears to get the tapes out; this after about the 4th time we had to call him
out to do it; and every replacement we got of the same model had the same
problem after a while...

FWIW - it seems to be a software problem. A certain combination of actions in
the wrong order seem to leave the tape stuck in the drive, with the cpu not
seeming to know about it. After we'd go in and wind the tape out, it'd go on
working ok... til someone got unlucky again. We go through this on a semi-
regular basis on the dat in the 922lx (which luckily we don't have to use
often). We've probably gone through it 4 times so far this year (and most of
the guys that have to mess with that box now know how to spin the tape out!
;-) )

At this point, I'd just let the CE handle it... but if ya need a step by step
lemme know.

More importantly, if it happens consistently; keep calling the CE out - at my
old job, ours finally helped us get a trade-in deal on a newer drive.

              -Chris Bartram